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Chapter 15
JADE
I hopped into the passenger side of the black two door coupe that Drake led me to. My mind was otherwise occupied at the time and I didn’t bother asking whose car we were in or where he had gotten it from until about ten minutes into our drive.
“It’s mine,” he says, not bothering to give any more details or explain how in the world some poor, orphaned guy like him managed to afford a car like this, or any for that matter. I mean it’s nothing super fancy like the SUVs Bass and Ace drive around in, but the interior is clean and not all tattered like my ex’s cars all were. It’s shiny, smells rather new, and has some high-tech stereo with touchscreen and blue LED lights.
“And how the fuck did you manage to buy a car let alone one like this?” I ask, rather intrigued by what the Dragon’s gotten himself into. He’s been MIA recently and we haven’t questioned it given his history with Scar, but now I'm definitely curious to know where he’s been running off to.
“I got a job,” he utters bluntly, once again not further explaining anything.
“Bullshit,” I yell, not buying it, “Where the fuck did you get a job? No one here would be crazy enough to hire any of us and Pleasant Hills is too far to commute daily,” I add, gaining me a scornful glare from him.
“First of all, it’s only like an hour and a half away and second of all, I don’t have to explain myself to you Wolf,” he snaps, tightening his grip on the steering wheel. His tattooed fingers turn white with the force he’s using to hold on to it, when he suddenly reaches over, turning up the volume to MGK’s most recent album currently bumping on the stereo. Drake and I have never been awfully close compared to my relationship with my other foster siblings. I’ve always felt more comfortable around Kai or Jax, while he was usually always broody and pissed off at the world when he wasn’t following Scar like a lovesick puppy. Then when we came here andtheyfinally got together, I realized their relationship was forced and they weren’t at all good for each other. I think deep down at one point he may have believed I was the reason she ended things with him.
“Well someone’s touchy,” I scoff, turning and rolling down the window letting the cold breeze of the night cool my skin.
“Says the chick who just caused a fucking brawl and ran out of their faster than she came in,” he answers, causing me to turn and glare at him. Now I’m the one who’s pissed. I reach over and turn the volume down, twisting my whole body to face him as I smack him over the head.
“What the fuck Jade, you’re going to make me crash!” he shouts, swerving slightly to the left.
“First of all, I just asked a fucking question, and second of all, you have no idea the shit week I’ve had. So don’t come at me with your whole I’m a fucked up, damaged bad boy bullshit Dragon. We’re all fucking screwed.” I roll my eyes and look back out my open window, holding back the tears that have been aching to come out all day long. This time the Dragon’s smart, turning the volume back up and driving silently the rest of the way to campus.
As we pull up outside the parking structure of the academy, Drake turns off the ignition, but neither one of us makes a move to exit. I shift my gaze to him and notice he’s focused on his steering wheel, his hands still gripping it harshly. But just as I am about to speak and apologize for lashing out at him, he interrupts me speaking first.
“Just know, what Scar did, whatever it was, she couldn’t have meant it. You girls are two halves of the perfect heart. One beats the other follows. I can’t imagine a world where you two aren’t talking.” His eyes never come up to meet mine, clearly not wanting them to show the vulnerability in him when it comes to my sister.
“Some things aren’t as easy to forgive Dragon,” I say, my voice cracking as I swallow down the thickness of my pain.
“If anyone understands the hurt Scar can cause it’s me Jade, and I've forgiven her for all she has done.”
“I’m sorry Dragon but what she did to you, it doesn’t come close to what she’s done this time,” I mutter and he quickly turns to me, a look of shock appearing in his eyes. “And I don’t mean to downplay what happened between you two, but you and I both know that you and Scar weren’t endgame,” he nods his head in agreement, his tattooed fingers rustling anxiously in his hair.
“I’m not hurt because I lost her Jade. You were right, I realize that what we had wasn’t that kind of love, it wasn’t real to either of us. But I lost my best friend because I was too damn proud to admit it. I don’t want the same for you,” he says, holding my gaze. His eyes are sincere and ache with the pain of having no one left in your corner you can actually trust. I mean he has his sister but she’s just such a petty bitch sometimes she’s impossible to talk to. And the guys, Kai and Jax, even though they’re like brothers to him, they’ve got their own demons to fight off.
“You know she’d go back to the way things were in a heartbeat if you’d let her,” I say, and he nods, accepting it’s him who’s reluctant. “I’m going to forgive her Drake, because you’re right, I don’t see my life without her in it. But I can’t right now, I get she’s hurting but so am I.”
“Because of Silver,” he states rather than asking. As if he knows the answer, like it’s that blatantly obvious. Well it is after the scene he just pulled.
“Something like that,” I mumble, not wanting to delve into that at the moment.
“I won’t ask, I won’t pry, I won’t even tell you to steer clear of him for your own safety. Just know Jade, no matter what I’m here for you. We’re Grayson’s after all.” I fight with everything I can against the stray tear threatening to stain my cheek as I look into the solemn gaze of one of my brothers. Because although we may not be the closest pair, Drake has been there for me in more ways than one. He’s more a brother to me than Roman ever was and that I’ll never forget.
“Thanks Dragon, you don’t know how much that means right now.” He simply nods, just like me not wanting to make this into a bigger deal than it is. I reach to pull the handle of the door but before I exit turn to face him. “Same goes to you Dragon, I’m here if you need me.”
???
The next morning I wake up with a blinding headache courtesy of spending the night tossing and turning, hardly getting even a wink of sleep. I replayed Sebastian's words in my mind over and over again. His reasoning behind not telling me about my brother was mediocre at best, but I can’t dwell on the fact that he lied to me for months, cause I’m the one lying now. So instead I walk over to my restroom grabbing a towel from the linen closet and locking myself inside. I hunch over the sink, looking up at my reflection in the mirror. I look like shit. Like seriously it’s terrifying how fucked up I look, like I haven’t eaten or slept in days. Thissituationis going to be much harder to hide if I don’t pull my shit together. I need to start figuring out how to keep my food down, maybe eat some more saltine crackers and that ginger candy Sarah bought me, maybe even some of that gross as fuck fizzy water. And I need to go into town and stock up on a shit ton of makeup to hide my scary appearance.
Once I’ve showered, changed, and made myself look at least seemingly presentable, I walk into the living room finding Scar and Stella watching me with careful eyes as I emerge from my bedroom. They stare at me as if I’m made of glass or some explosive about to detonate, worry and fear clouding their gazes. Fuck do I still look like that much of a mess. I pulled my hair up into a loose bun, rimmed my eyes in liner and mascara, and even managed a bit of concealer and foundation over my dark circles. My uniform fits me looser than before, which is odd because I thought you were supposed to gain weight when you’re pregnant not lose it, but I’ve also barely managed to keep any food down so there’s that.
Irritated by their blank stares and lack of words, I walk up to the kitchen cabinet and grab a bottle of ibuprofen, but just as I’m about to pour some into my hand, I freeze. Fuck, I’m not sure if I should be taking this. Ugh I hate that I have to be more careful now about what I do especially since I have no idea what it is I’m doing. I’ll have to text Sarah later and ask if it’s safe and I probably should think about going to see a doctor or something. Ugh, just the thought makes my stomach cringe, so instead I throw the bottle of pills into my bag not wanting to make my reluctance to take them evident. But when I turn back around their gazes are still glued to me.
“Well are you two just going to stare all damn day or are we going to get breakfast?” I ask, urging Stella to grab her bag and head straight to the front door. But Scarlett doesn’t move.
“Jade we need to talk,” she mutters, stepping forward. Her hair is in its usual style, slick straight and past her shoulders, her uniform fitting like a second skin, and make up as always on point. But the look in her eyes is off. There is a ghostly shadow hiding behind her blue irises clearly haunting her every thought. It pains me to see my sister this way lacking her usual spark. She’s worn this haunting stare for so long and now when she’s finally defeated all the evil that threatened to consume her, now that she can finally be happy with the love of her life, she looks anything but.
But I can’t, I’m not ready. “I told you I wasn’t ready for that Scar. I get you’re sorry, I get you’ve been through a whole lot lately, but I’m not fucking ready, so can we go back to acting like nothing happened and get to class, or should I just go on my own.”
